Family Bonds Stronger
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: All about Max and Saori; married and having kids with an eighth one on the way and their family dynamics. Dedicated to Master of Stories. Hope ya like!
1. Sword Work

And this is another Max/Akashi/Saori fic and in this time around, Max is 35 years old; a father of seven (soon to be eight), living his passion as a blacksmith and sword polisher and married to Saori. Dedicated to The Master of Stories! Enjoy!

* * *

Family Bonds Stronger

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Sword Work

At a little workshop further from parts of China, a white tiger was busy sharpening a couple of swords and he's sharpening, polishing and making them look like they're as good as new and this is his passion that he loves doing and that pleases him to no extent that this is what he loves doing and it's something he's been wanting to do since he was a teenager and he's definitely living it all up.

After he was gone polishing and sharpening the swords, he placed them were all the other ones go to and starts pounding some metal and as he's pounding it, he's very fortunate to even have the amazing life he has for several years and not to mention...have a huge success in his personal life as well; married to the love of his life, Saori Tora Okami and gave her seven cubs with an eighth one on the way coming soon.

"Hey, Max."

Soon enough, he looks up, pulls off his mask and sees Akashi coming in there with his Iron Fang sword and he said, "Hey, Akashi. How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Akashi replied.

Max chuckled softly and he said, "What can I help you with this time?"

"Think you can sharpen and polish Iron Fang for me? It kinda needs a little sprucing up." Akashi asked.

Max smiled at this and he said, "Of course. Set it down there. I have to finish pounding this metal first."

Akashi sets the sword down where the sword polishing workspace is and as he looks at Max, he began to imagine that same shy and timid young cub that gradually grew into a brave and kindhearted person in a big way and now...Max is 35 years old with seven wonderful kids and married to Saori and for the first time, Akashi sees him as his son and brother all in one.

"Hey, Max. How's Saori doing?" asked Akashi.

"She's doing good. We're expecting our eighth child soon." Max replied.

Akashi chuckled softly at that and he said, "Have you ever considered adopting? Because you know how much I might forget some of them because you and her have so much kids together."

"Actually, we have been. But we kinda put that to the side for a while since we have so much kids." Max replied.

"By the way, how are they?" asked Akashi.

"They're doing great. Mason's taking kung-fu classes, Seto's interested in ninja, Yuki's doing ribbon dancing with Aunt Viper, Kaiba's into art and Serenity, Sapphire and Jason are doing good. They like being around their mother. Serenity's a big help to mom." Max replied.

"Sounds like they're doing well." Akashi replied.

"Yeah. I think Yuki's ribbon dancing is starting to attract a couple of boys in her class. Don't know why though." Max replied.

As soon as that news hit, Akashi was a little flabbergasted by this and he asked, "Yuki? Boys?"

"Some of them are her age, you know. But it's just sweet crushes. Matter of fact, I think Yuki's got a crush on one of them." Max answered.

"Max, you know how I feel about one of your daughters around boys." Akashi stated, sternly.

"Yuki tells me and her mother everything. And Miyo...and Akami, Musaki, Arizona..." Max stated.

After Max was finished pounding the metal, he went straight to work on sharpening the Iron Fang sword and he turned to Akashi and said, "Your sword's gonna be polished and look sharp as ever."

"Appreciate it. When you finish it, I'm gonna have a little talk with Yuki about boys." Akashi said, folding her arms.

"Akashi, you know that it's between me, Yuki and Saori, right? I've actually met some of these boys and they're all inspired and adored by her. Not how you thought, but she actaully leads them." Max replied.

"Let's hope they don't lead to something else." Akashi added.

"She's 11. Me and Yuki have talked about boys before and how they have to present themselves towards a girl and show them respect. And if they don't, then they're not meant for her." Max answered.

"And I missed the conversation?" asked Akashi.

"Well, you were at the hot springs that day...and got punched by Miyo too." Max stated.

Akashi sighed in embarrassment after Max mentioning it and he said, "You always know what I do, don't I?"

"Who was the one that gave me parts of your aura?" asked Max.

* * *

So far...an awesome start! Next up, we meet Saori and Max's kids!

**Voice of Max: Will Friedle**

**Voice of Akashi: James Horan**


	2. Cubs at Home

And now we meet all seven of Max and Saori's kids.

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Chapter 2: Cubs at Home

At the Heavenly Tower

Saori was really looking forward to have their newborn come out soon and she's hoping for either a son or a daughter and rubs her belly for much support and in response, she felt a little kick inside of her and she said, "Wow...you're really excited, aren't you?"

"Mom!"

Just then, Saori comes out and sees Serenity; 6 years of age, has some her mother's chin, whiskers and Max's nose and ears running this way and Saori asked, "What's wrong?"

"Kaiba won't stop pranking me!" Serenity whined.

"Kaiba Masanori Bushido-Akio Okami!"

Just then, she sees Kaiba walking by; 9 years of age, has the same whiskers that both parents have, has his mother's eyes and nose and his father's ears and paws; slowly walking by and he looked at his mother very innocently in the eyes and asked, "Yes, mama?"

Saori was familiar with that look and she gave him a very stern look and asked, "Are you pulling tricks on your sister again?"

"What would make you think that?" asked Kaiba, sweetly.

Just then, a fake spider dangling on his finger was seen by his mother and he was caught in the act and that made Kaiba froze and Saori look at him very sternly and Kaiba only asked, "How did that get there?"

"My guess is that you pranked her with the fake spider dangled on your finger." Saori answered.

"Maybe..." Kaiba replied.

Saori glared at Kaiba for a while and Kaiba knew what the drill was...he untangled the string from his finger along with the fake spider and hands it to his mother and Saori said, "You know better than to prank your sister."

"But Uncle Akashi does it." Kaiba replied.

"You've been learning too much from him. Do we have to discuss the last time you pranked both Serenity and Yuki with that creepy mask?" asked Saori.

"I thought that it would be funny!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"It wasn't that funny. I almost peed myself because of you." Serenity said, glaring.

"Apologize." Saori added.

Kaiba was a little dumbfounded when he was asked to apologize to his sister for pranking her, but he eventually turned around and he said, "I'm sorry."

"Okay." Serenity replied.

After that, Kaiba walks away and heads to his room and he looks back with a smirk on his face, thinking, 'I'll get you again, sis.'

Later on, Sapphire waited in Yuki's room to play with her, but Jason comes crawling in and he said, "Mama?"

"Mama's sleeping." Sapphire replied.

Jason crawled towards Sapphire and wanted to play with her, but she totally ignored him because she knows he's too annoying and somewhat of a handful, but she couldn't resist playing with him because they're like partners in crime and they tumbled around the room and played with a few toys together...including their action figures.

"What are you guys doing in my room?"

Just then, they turned around to see Yuki; 11 years old, wearing a pink and white kimono with black pants, has blue eyes and got her mother's nose and her father's whiskers; coming in and looks at both Sapphire and Jason in the eye and the younger ones replied, "Nothing..."

"What did I tell you guys about waiting for me in my room?" asked Yuki, her arms folded.

"To not to." Sapphire replied.

Just then, the two older boys; Seto and Mason comes over to see what's going on and Mason asked, "What's going on?"

"Can't I have any privacy in my own room?" asked Yuki, a little frustrated.

Seto could tell that this is not one of Yuki's better moods and he thought that it was better to bring Sapphire and Jason out of there and he said to them, "You can play with me and Mason."

"Actually, I've got some training to do." Mason replied.

"Again? We just got out of kung-fu class, dude." Seto said, exasperatedly.

"I'm actually doing some MMA training too." Mason added.

Seto nods his head in response to that and he picked up both Sapphire and Jason and he said, "Always taking on more than you can handle, can ya?"

"Hey, I don't have to take on more than I can handle, you know." Mason said.

With that, Mason walks away and heads out for a bit while Seto stands there a little annoyed that Mason's got such a training regime and he turned to Yuki and said, "I'd better go see if mom's okay."

"I'm going with you." Yuki added.

* * *

So...how is Saori doing? Of course, she is pregnant with her eight kid after all. Stay tuned for more!

**Voice of Saori: Sumalee Montano**

**Voice of Kaiba: Tara Strong**

**Voice of Serenity: Diamond White**

**Voice of Sapphire: E.G. Daily**

**Voice of Jason: Tara Strong**

**Voice of Yuki: Cree Summer**

**Voice of Seto: Ben Diskin**

**Voice of Mason: Josh Keaton**


	3. How's Mom Doing

And the kids see how their mom is doing while she's carrying their new brother or sister.

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Chapter 3: How's Mom Doing

Yuki and Seto were walking over towards their mom's room and see how she's doing and as they walked in, they can tell that she's still laying there as her stomach is getting bigger by the minute and Yuki said, "Hi, mom."

"Hey, sweetie." Saori said, smiling.

"How are you, mom?" asked Seto, sitting by her side.

"Doing just fine. It won't be long until you guys have a new addition to the family." Saori said, rubbing her belly.

"I hope it'll be another boy." Seto said, very hopeful.

Yuki rolled her eyes at that comment and she said, "I want it to be another girl because we've had too many boys here."

"What's wrong with that? Maybe we do need another boy. We've had you, Serenity and Sapphire. It's always been me, Mason, Kaiba and Jason and I think we need another boy in the mix." Seto replied.

"If it's a girl, I'm gonna be the happiest person ever." Yuki said, with a smirk.

"But if it's a boy, I'm gonna rub in straight in your face." Seto added, with a cocky smirk.

"Guys!"

Both of them turned to their mother and from the look on her face, she seemed almost slightly annoyed by this argument and she said, "That's quite enough. That's something me and your father will have to find out for ourselves."

"Well...when are you gonna tell all of us?" asked Seto.

"Whenever we come back to doctor's and we'll let you know then. Until then, just be patient." Saori replied.

"Yes, mother." Yuki and Seto replied, in unison.

"YUKI!"

Yuki could hear that voice anywhere and that's something she does not like to hear and she sighed heavily and she said, "Uncle Akashi..."

"What does your uncle want this time?" asked Saori.

* * *

Akashi's here and it looks like he's here to see Yuki. Wonder what that would be?


	4. Akashi's Warning About Boys

And Yuki receives a stern warning from her uncle Akashi about boys.

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Chapter 4: Akashi's Warning About Boys

Yuki walks down the steps of the tower and sees Akashi standing there, with his arms folded and very stern-like as she walks down and she said, "Hello, uncle."

"Yuki, what is this I hear about you being in that ribbon dancing class with a bunch of boys?" asked Akashi.

Yuki was definitely surprised to hear that coming from Akashi's mouth and didn't think that it would require such a huge problem, but knowing her uncle so well about boys and the dangers, it apparently makes a big deal for him as well and Yuki replied, "Did my dad tell you this?"

"He told me that himself." Akashi answered.

"See...this is why I barely tell you everything, especially when it comes to boys. You can insanely crazy each time I mention it." Yuki replied.

"That's only because I need to protect you if they don't treat you right. If anyone of them comes near you, I'll make sure that he'll never live until he gets older." Akashi replied.

"Uncle Akashi...I'm 11 years old. I'm not even that close in finding a boyfriend yet. Of course...I do have a certain crush on this muscular 13 year old panda-wolf hybrid. He's always so mysterious...but he's definitely good-looking." Yuki said, smiling.

Akashi growls in response and he said, "Forget it! You're not dating him!"

"It's a crush, uncle. It's nothing serious." Yuki replied.

"If it's nothing serious, then why did you say that he's good-looking?" asked Akashi, folding his arms.

"You know I'm getting to that age where I like boys now. Why is that such a problem for you?" asked Yuki.

"I'm just doing everything I can to make sure none of them take advantage of you...inside or outside the ribbon-dancing class." Akashi replied.

"Don't worry about me, uncle. No boy could even be that close to have me. Some of them want to date me, but I just say 'no thank you' and that's all." Yuki replied.

"Good. Keep doing that. If they do more than that...I'll come over to that class and find those boys and show them that you cannot mess with Akashi's niece." Akashi said, with a snarl under his voice.

Yuki face palmed her face and said, "I think you'd best have a face-to-face talk rather than your sword. Remember what happened last time you tried to talk sense into one? You ended up slicing his tail off."

"They never suspected it was me." Akashi said, in defense.

"I knew. I knew specifically."

Akashi looked up and saw Saori coming down the steps and as she gets assisted by Seto and Kaiba, Saori told him, "You sliced the guy's tail off with your sword...in front of the audience."

"It wasn't my fault I got kicked out of there." Akashi added.

"Listen...I understand you want to defend my daughter, but don't you think that she ought to defend herself for once?" asked Saori.

"Saori...is this how you're gonna treat your big brother?" asked Akashi.

"When it's called for." Saori answered.

* * *

Wow...isn't that something? Saori called her brother out. Stay tuned for more!


	5. Checking on Saori

And finally Max comes back to see how Saori's doing and he comes home to see his kids!

* * *

Chapter 5: Checking on Saori

As evening comes in, Max comes back home after work and he could hear both Jason and Sapphire squealing 'daddy' as they run over and the sight of seeing his kids smile made his day really better as he got down on his knees, spread his arms out and hugs both of them. That's definitely the biggest joy he could ever receive from having kids and he kisses both of them and said, "Hey, guys."

"Daddy, guess what?" Sapphire asked, excitedly.

"What?" asked Max.

"I finally dressed myself!" Sapphire replied.

That surprised Max to hear that and he was completely stoked about that and he said, "You did? That's awesome! High-five it."

Max puts out his paw and Sapphire immediately gave her father a high five and he hugged her and said, "That's my girl. I'm so proud of you."

"Jason crawled too." Sapphire added.

Now that was also surprising to hear and Jason indeed...did crawl on the ground and Max was completely happy to see this and he said, "Jay...come to baba. Crawl to baba."

Jason turned around and he saw his father squatting there and he slowly started crawling and eventually, he picked up the pace as he got closer and closer to his father and once he did, Max cheered for him and picks Jason up and hugs him and said, "You crawled all by yourself! I am so proud of you, son."

Soon enough, in comes Serenity and Kaiba coming downstairs and they were happy to see their father and he hugs them tightly and he said, "How are you guys?"

"Good." Serenity and Kaiba replied, in unison.

"Have you guys been good?" asked Max.

"I have, but Kaiba pranked me today." Serenity stated.

Kaiba looked at Serenity with an annoyed glare on his face and he stuck his tongue out to get on her nerves and said, "Tattletale."

"Kaiba...you know better than to pull pranks on your sister." Max said, very sternly.

"But dad...uncle Akashi used to do it to mom." Kaiba added.

"I think you've learned too much from your uncle Akashi." Max added.

Afterwards, Max walks upstairs to see how Saori's doing and soon enough, he sees his oldest son coming out of Saori's room and he said, "Hey, son."

Mason looks up and sees his father and he said, "Hey, dad."

"How ya doing?" asked Max.

Mason lets out an exhausted exhale and he replied, "Sleepy. I've had a very long session with Uncle Jason."

Max chuckled at this and he said, "You've been working, haven't ya?"

"Yep. I'm trying to get a little better though because I've gotten some extra training in." Mason replied.

"Try to take it easy on yourself, son. Don't want you to overwork yourself." Max added.

Mason chuckled at this and he said, "I'll try not to."

With that, Mason walked to his room to relax and he walked inside his and Saori's room and once he stepped in, he sees his beloved pregnant Saori sitting up and he walks towards her, sits beside her and kisses her forehead and said, "Hi, Saori."

"Hey, Max." Saori replied.

Max looked at Saori's belly and he starts rubbing it softly and he asked, "How's the baby doing?"

"Doing fine. I'm just really excited to have this baby come out." Saori replied.

Max was glowing with happiness as he's looking forward to having a new baby enter in the world and he said, "Me too. I just hope that we can give our new cub a much better life than both of us have."

Saori nodded in agreement and she just felt like they've come a long way since their younger years and they want to give their kids something that they never had and they've succeeded with all seven of them and hope that their eighth will have the same kind of good life.

"Max...would you still love me even if I do look like this?" asked Saori.

"Of course I would. You're still beautiful to me." Max added, putting his finger on her chin.

Saori purred in response to that and she nuzzled him softly and she placed her forehead on his and both of them looked at each other in the eyes and their lips touch each other as they kiss. Saori then placed her paw on his head and strokes it gently and she said, "And you're still the most handsome and sweet person I'm very lucky to have as my mate."

Max chuckled softly at this and he said, "Me too."

"Are you guys gonna kiss?"

"Seto!" Max and Saori exclaimed.

"That's not me, mom!" Seto replied.

Soon enough, Saori had an alternative guess and she said, "Akashi, is that you?"

"No." Akashi replied.

* * *

Yes...I had to put Akashi in there, even though he's not in the room. Stay tuned for more!


	6. All Family

And we get to see Miyo, Musaki and Arizona...all in old age.

* * *

Chapter 6: All Family

The next day, Max and Saori were on their way to see Akashi, Miyo, Arizona and Musaki and as they were heading in, they didn't notice to see that they're getting a little older as well and soon enough, Max said, "Hey, guys."

Musaki was the first one to turn around and see the two tigers walking by hand-in-hand together and he said, "Hey, you two! How goes?"

"I'm doing good. How about you guys?" asked Max, happily.

Musaki lets out a deep sigh and replied, "I'm getting old, Maxim. I never thought I'd still be around that long."

"Speak for yourself, all four of us are getting old while my tiger brother and tiger sister-in-law are still young." Arizona added.

Saori giggled in response to that and she said, "You guys don't look that old."

"When you guys reach your 50's, then you'll know the difference. But...I'll worry about that stuff when I'm in my 60's or 70's." Musaki added.

Max then looks at Musaki's green cape and straw hat and figures that it's the exact attire that his grandfather wore and he asked, "You still keeping the peace at Shanghai Secluded Valley?"

"Yep. Since Oak passed away, I've been keeping the entire valley in safety mode. I know that he'll be proud of me for carrying on his legacy." Musaki answered.

"Your grandfather was a great man, Saki." Akashi added.

Musaki agreed with that and he said, "At least I got a chance to have my last few moments with him before he passed away. He's always been like my dad since I moved back to Shanghai when I was 21."

"Always one for advice and gives you plenty wisdom." Arizona added.

"And I think he instilled that in all of us. Only thing I wished he could've done was that we would've stayed young." Musaki stated.

Akashi comes over to Saori and saw that her belly is growing by the minute and he said, "How's my nephew doing?"

"Niece, Akashi. It's gonna be a girl." Miyo added.

"I say nephew." Akashi argued.

Saori sighed at this and she broke it up quickly and said, "Listen...we're gonna head to the doctor's today to see if it will be a boy or a girl."

"Yeah, I think it's best that if we find out for ourselves rather than you guys debating about this." Max added.

"How many kids you got now?" asked Arizona.

"Seven...and this one will make eight." Saori replied, pointing at her belly.

"How much are you guys keeping up?" asked Musaki.

"Trust me...it's difficult to keep up with them."Max stated.

Arizona chuckled at this and he replied, "I'm with you there. Eight cubs is a lot for me and Sierra."

"Try raising nine kids. I guarantee you that it'll get crazier from there. But me and Summer are lucky enough to give them some good morals and values." Musaki added.

"How are they, by the way?" asked Saori.

"They're all grown up now and have kids of their own and I love being around them and our grandkids." Musaki replied.

"Same as mine." Arizona agreed.

"I think Musaki likes to spoil the grandchildren a little bit." Miyo added, laughing.

"Aw, come on! They're my grandkids." Musaki said, in defense.

All of them were just talking and laughing with each other, sharing stories of their youth and it made them all so fortunate that they still have a united family front that has grown stronger and will never be broken.

* * *

How awesome is it to see them in their 50's? Stick around to see more!

**Voice of Miyo: Gina Torres**

**Voice of Musaki: Kevin Michael Richardson**

**Voice of Arizona: Steven Blum**


	7. The News

And of course...Max and Saori come to determine what the baby will be either a boy or a girl. Here's the answer for it.

* * *

Chapter 7: The News

Later that morning, Max and Saori head to the doctor's office to see about their baby and how it's doing and to determine whether if it's a boy or a girl to add to the family and as they entered in, the doctor immediately recognized them because they've been over many times throughout the years whenever Saori's pregnant and she was happy to see them and welcomed them with hugs and Saori said, "Nice to see you again, doctor."

"Of course. So...you're here for baby number eight, huh?" asked the doctor, very cheerful.

"Yes, ma'am." Saori replied, glowing.

"You guys come with me and we'll run a few tests." the doctor answered, as she brought both tigers in.

Max was very anxious to know whether it might be another boy or another girl to add to the growing family and after Saori had gone through a few tests, both of them were waiting for the answer they've been wanting to know since the pregnancy.

"Well...this baby is very happy and healthy. We've run a couple of tests and as always, you've done everything well, Saori." the doctor replied.

"Thank you." Saori said.

"So...we just want to know. Is it gonna be a son or a daughter?" asked Max.

The doctor chuckled softly at this and pulls out a card and she said to Saori, "Give this to Max."

"Can we both look at it?" asked Saori.

"I was hoping you'd ask." the doctor replied.

Within seconds, they opened the card and once they took it out, the entire card was blue and for Max...that could only mean one thing; they have a new son. It was a huge moment that both of them could savor and they were happy to have that news come in and Max said, "It's a boy."

"Yes...it's another boy." the doctor added.

Both of them were really happy with this and tears started coming out of Saori's eyes and she said, "This is the best day of my life."

"Our lives, Saori." Max said, holding her paws.

"Congratulations to both of you." the doctor replied, happily.

"Thank you, doctor." both tiger replied.

As soon as the doctor gives them a moment alone, Max and Saori were overwhelmed with so much emotions as the news sink in and they were so happy to have another son and Max rubs Saori's belly and he said, "We have another boy."

"Yes, we do. I love you, Max." Saori said, happily.

"I love you too." Max replied, kissing her in the lips very lovingly.

* * *

Yep, it's a boy! That definitely spells joy and happiness for both tigers as their family expands more. Stay tuned!

**Voice of the nurse: Veronica Taylor**


	8. Keeping the News

And Max and Saori spread the news about the baby and the first person they'll tell...their kids.

* * *

Chapter 8: Keeping the News

Soon after they went back home, Max became deeply excited to have another son and he hopes that he'll keep the news of that in secrecy until the right time comes to spread it to the family...however, the only concern about that is Akashi finding out for himself because he can read both his and Saori's aura very easily and break the news before they do.

"Hey, Saori...now that we're the only ones that know, you think we can only tell our kids?" asked Max.

"Why do you ask?" asked Saori.

"Well...it's gonna be really hard to keep this between us because Akashi could completely spoil the surprise." Max replied.

Saori could see his point across because she recalls certain times whenever Saori got pregnant and head for the doctor's office, Akashi could completely read their aura and find out before they even got a chance to surprise them and that's what had happened to their seven kids and the chance to keep it to themselves has been less likely because of Akashi's aura.

"I think we should tell the kids first. And then tell Musaki, Arizona, Sierra, Summer, Miyo, Akami and Takamoto after that." Saori replied.

"My thoughts exactly." Max agreed.

Before long, they see Mason, Yuki, Seto, Jason, Sapphire, Serenity, Kaiba and their orphan friend Marcus coming in the house and Max was deeply happy to see Marcus coming in because he's been like a part of the family, despite the fact that he had no parents. Just then, all of the kids turned their attention to Max and Saori and Mason said, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, kids. Hello, Marcus." Max said, waving.

"Hello, Mr. Bushido-Akio." Marcus said, very shy.

Max chuckled softly and he said, "Just call me Max."

"Listen...remember when we told you guys that we'll have a new addition to the family?" asked Saori.

"Yeah, you've told us several times. And we hope that it'll be a boy." Kaiba added.

"You're so wrong. It's a girl!" Serenity argued.

"All right kids...you've waited this long. So...we went to the doctor's this morning and you guys are gonna have a new baby..." Max paused them.

All the kids waited with bated breath to hear the news in hopes that it'll be either a boy or a girl for the family and just then, Saori told them, "...boy."

Once they received it, the boys were cheering in excitement and high-fived each other while the girls were disappointed and shocked that it's another brother coming in. Kaiba and Seto were rubbing it in the girls' faces after that news and Yuki responded with a growl for rubbing it in and Kaiba said, "We told you! We told you! We told you!"

"You wanna feel your legs tied up in a knot?!" Yuki snarled.

"Yuki!"

Yuki turns around and notices Max getting really stern and he said, "There will be no leg-tying of the sort! Let's just focus on the happy occasion."

"Yes, please. Having a new baby boy will bring us closer together as a family." Saori added.

"We're cool with having a new brother. We can teach him MMA, wrestling, pranks and even how to spit." Kaiba added.

"This is why we need more girls." Yuki stated.

"You have Serenity and Sapphire." Saori retorted.

Yuki's struggling to deal with the news, but she can't let that get in the way of her mother's happiness and she said, "I guess you'e right. I just need to get used to this."

"You will." Max added.

"One good thing about the news; Akashi's not here." Yuki said, with a smirk.

* * *

Yep, Akashi's not here because Max and Saori broke the news about the baby to the kids first. Next chapter...Max and Saori tell Akashi, Miyo and the others about the baby.


	9. Happy News Spreads

And then...the happy news spreads to everyone else after Max and Saori announced the baby news to the kids.

* * *

Chapter 9: Happy News Spreads

After that news, Max and Saori received a surprise visit from Musaki, Arizona, Sierra, Summer and all of their kids as they came in the house to see them and soon enough, in comes Akashi, Miyo, Takahiro and Akami and all of them were just as excited to hear the results of what the new baby will be and all of them embraced each other with massive hugs galore all over and they were so happy to see each other.

"How's everyone doing?" asked Max, happily.

"We're all doing just fine, Max. Happy now that we're here to see you and Saori. We can't wait to hear the news about your baby." Miyo said, extra joyful.

"Did Akashi spy this time?" asked Saori, glaring at her older brother.

Akashi didn't know how to respond to that and he scoffed at this and asked, "Why would I spy on you guys? I already read your aura, remember?"

Saori groans in response to that and Max facepalmed himself for that matter, thinking that Akashi might've already known already...again. Max felt that it was best to just tell everyone the news anyway and he lets out a deep sigh and he turned to everyone and said, "Well...me and Saori went to the doctor's this morning and we're pleased to tell you that we're having...another baby boy."

Everyone was filled with so much happiness and joy after hearing the news that they're having another boy and everyone was surprised...except for Akashi because he already figured that out by reading both tiger's auras. However, he was ecstatic to have another nephew and he's very much excited about it.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" Summer said, happily.

"So are we! You two are so lucky to have another boy!" Sierra said, joyfully.

"How many boys you got so far now?" asked Arizona.

"We had Mason, Seto, Kaiba and Jason...and this one here will be our fifth." Saori replied, giggling.

All of them whistled at that length of boys they had and Musaki said, "Wow...that's a lot of boys. Summer, Sierra and Miyo hoped for another girl."

"Yeah...we did. But I think we've reached our limit now of having more kids...unless we really needed more." Max added.

"I think you should have one more daughter." Akami stated.

"We'll think about that, but we're good for right now." Saori replied.

Akashi started feeling completely happy with Saori having another boy and he hopes that he'll teach him a couple of things and Max comes over to him and said, "Akashi...I want you to not teach our new son some of your bad habits."

Akashi sputtered after hearing what Max just said and asked, "Bad habits? Me? I'm like a good example to all of your kids."

"Sometimes you're a good example, but other times...you're not so much a role model." Saori stated.

Akashi rolled his eyes at that and he asked, "How much trouble would I cause on your kids?"

"More than you think." Saori, Max and Miyo replied, in unison.

* * *

Looks like Akashi's been outnumbered when it comes to handling Max's kids. Stay tuned for more!


	10. Advice on a Position

And Mason comes to his dad for advice on whether or not he'll be next in line to be the leader of the Okami clan.

* * *

Chapter 10: Advice on a Position

The nxt day, Max was busy at his workshop, doing his usual work by polishing swords and pounding on metal swords to make them sharper and awesomer than ever and he's literally working harder than he has ever worked before...and it's what he loves to do ever since he was 12 years old. Just then, his ears perked when he heard someone come in and as he turned around, he saw Mason coming in and Max said, "Hey, son."

"Hey, dad." Mason replied.

Mason walked into the workshop with butterflies on his stomach and he asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing." Max replied, as he's polishing a few swords.

Mason twisted his thumbs around with a sense of anxiety and nervousness about something and he wasn't sure what he would expect his dad to answer once he asks it, but he took a deep breath and he said, "Okay, say if I don't want to be the leader of the Tora clan like mom. Would you be disappointed in me if I don't take that position?"

Max looks at Mason in the eye for a few seconds and he noticed Mason being completely nervous about receiving an answer and he replied, "No, I wouldn't be disappointed in you. Although, I'm not sure how your mother would feel about it."

"Yeah. I know that the future generation of the Tora clan can carry on the legacy of being the leader and that's a really big job. I don't know how mom does it and handle it so well." Mason answered.

"You know...when I look at you, I see the same determination, spirit and spark inside of yourself that your mother has. And a lot of spunk too. I always see you shine when you take those MMA class with Uncle Jason and when you enter into tournaments. But you always struggle with following whose footsteps you always take just because other people have expectations of you and that's totally normal." Max replied.

"You think so?" asked Mason.

"Trust me, I've been there before. When I was younger, I had thought I wanted to do kung-fu and it's kinda weird that I kinda pick it up so quickly after the first few days of training and I end up being a pro. Some people tend to brag about it like they think they're better than everyone else and...you know your old man, I'm never better than anyone else. Your Aunt Tigress tought that what I did was just pure luck until she found out that I did all the work and she was a little jealous of me because of it." Max replied.

That surprised Mason the most because he didn't know that Tigress was very jealous of his father's training skills and asked, "She did?"

"Yep. She used to underestimate me because I was a kid and that it's for the grown-ups only, but I use that for motivation because it always keeps me going and I succeed everytime." Max replied.

"Did you really?" asked Mason, amazed.

"Yep. But I'm not one to rub it someone's face because it's not me and I don't like to do that to any opponent. I just treat them like they're friends after the competition." Max replied.

"I always thought that you could rub it in the opponent's face after a victory." Mason stated.

"Whoever said that must not have set an example of themselves." Max added.

Mason nodded his head in agreement for that and he said, "So...what do you think I should do?"

"All I can tell you, son...do what pleases you. If you want to be a leader of the Tora clan, that's great. If not, then...that's okay too. But it's what you want to do. Not what anyone else wants you to do." Max answered.

That really sets a fire inside Mason to know that no matter what the outcome will be, he'll do his best to make his parents proud and he said, "Thanks, dad."

"Just follow your own heart and do what you feel is right." Max stated, smiling.

"Thanks, dad. I'll take that advice." Mason replied.

"Of course. And no matter what you do, always remember...that your mother and I will be proud of you." Max added.

Mason nodded his head and took that advice to heart and instill it in him and with that, he smiled and quietly left the workshop with a light heart and focused mind and Max sighed at this and got back to work and whispered to himself, "That's my boy."

* * *

Mason's definitely gonna have a bright future no matter what. Stay tuned for more!


	11. Getting the Baby's Room Set

And Saori talks about the baby with the rest of the mothers.

* * *

Chapter 11: Getting the Baby's Room Set

Many hours later, Musaki, Arizona, Takashi, Jacob, Luke, Noah and Akashi were in Saori's room, helping set up the baby's room ready for the new arrival of Saori's baby boy and they were very eager to help her out in anyway they can. Takashi, Jacob and Luke were doing some paint work while Noah set up the crib on his own and Musaki, Arizona and Akashi brought in some furniture as well that pretty much sets up the baby's room.

Meanwhile, Saori, Miyo, Sierra, Summer and Akami were discussing about a certain baby shower for Saori's new baby and they were really excited for this event when the baby is born and Miyo said, "We would love to contribute to this baby shower for your little boy."

"Aw, thank you so much. You guys have always planned one for seven of our cubs and Max is extremely excited about this moment." Saori added.

"Has he been taking good care of you?" asked Akami.

"Yes, he has. He's been there for me ever since I got pregnant...and he's been really patient with me. I know I'm hard to deal with when I'm in that position, but...to tell you the truth, I wouldn't want anyone else other than Max to deal with me." Saori replied, smiling.

"Why else wouldn't he? He's always loved you when you guys were cubs. It's really funny...that you guys are cute as kids together and now you guys had kids and you're having another one. Look at how far you guys came." Miyo added, spreading the joy.

"What are you guys gonna name him?" asked Sierra.

Saori seemed completely coy about the whole name thing, yet she wants to surprise Max with a certain name to give the little cub and she said, "I'm keeping it a surprise for Max. He won't know until I name him."

"Oooh...like a secret?" asked Summer.

"Yes. One that Max will find out soon and one that Akashi will never know until this baby's born." Saori replied, with a giggle.

The others were giggling amongst themselves as well while the men were working hard setting up the baby's room near the master bedroom and Akashi would sure like to know what Saori's naming the baby cub anyway and suddenly, he felt some paint behind him and startled a little and he turned around to see Takashi and Jacob standing there, looking really mortified at what they did.

Akashi lets out a very stern growl and the two were giggling nervously and said, "It was an accident..."

"Very funny, guys." Akashi replied.

* * *

Saori's got a secret as to naming the baby...wonder what she'll name him? You'll find out later in the story!


	12. Mason's Training

And we get to see Mason doing some training...by his father's former MMA instructor! You guys remember Jason from 'Tiger Trainer' and in this one, he's an old guy...in his mid-50's, but he can still do MMA training like a youngster.

* * *

Chapter 12: Mason's Training

Mason was standing in a MMA arena where he faced Max's former MMA instructor, Jason as they were getting ready to do some training together and Mason was more determined than ever to complete his training to get stronger than ever with just a simple sparring session with him. Though Jason's in his 50's, he still has the strength, speed and agility of a young fighter with an edge and Mason was ready for this.

"You ready, Mase?" asked Jason.

"You're going down, old man." Mason said, with a little smirk.

With that, both of them began sparring with each other as Jason began thrashing Mason around, but Mason knew how to fight back fast and he slid underneath Jason and flipped him down the mat several times and attacked him, but Jason was never one to be outsmarted so easily. He got himself up and they kept kicking, punching, flipping and clawing each other to an extent.

After that, Mason and Jason were walking around each other and Mason lets out a smirk on his face while Jason smirked back as well and both of them continued sparring and for some reason, Mason started getting a lot better with his fighting stance and gained much more strength than ever before and all that training he did was Jason completely helped raise his confidence level boost up even further and it sparked a huge fire inside of him to be the best at everything he can be...even without bragging rights.

Jason has fared much better as well and though he's aging, he still fires up his fighting stances and keeps training and has really picked up the pace, especially after all those years of training with Max from age 10 until the tender age of 14 and it made him not only a much better fighter, but a better trainer as well.

Mason kept on fighting Jason and attacked him straight up with the usage of kung-fu techniques with an MMA edge and he flipped and wrestled him down harder, but Jason thought up of a sneaky way to show him who's boss...he turned to the tables on Mason as he fought him hard and wrestled him twice as hard.

Mason started yowling in pain as his leg got twisted and soon after, Jason lets him go and he chuckled softly while Mason gets himself up and he said, "Why twist my leg?"

"Because this is what happens when you try to get too full of yourself. Confidence really is key, but don't put yourself in overconfidence because it's a way of letting your opponent take advantage of that and if you focus on being overconfident, your strategy will always backfire." Jason answered.

"Man...I could've easily beaten you." Mason added.

"Trust me, Mase...you don't want to feel any part of my unrelenting fierce battles." Jason said, with a smirk.

Mason rolled his eyes at that and both tigers got out of the arena and Jason said, "But all in all...great showmanship."

* * *

Stay tuned! We're gonna focus more on Max and Saori and the kids! One note: there are two Jason's in this fic; one is Max and Saori's youngest son (the three year old) and another is the one that was Max's MMA instructor...so it's only fitting that Max named his seventh child after his MMA instructor.

**Voice of Jason: John C. Reilly**


	13. Meeting Up with Tigress

And we seek Max meeting Tigress...and from what we can tell, it's not such a happy reunion.

* * *

Chapter 13: Meeting Up with Tigress

Max was getting ready to close up the shop for the day and head back home to his beloved Saori and see how she's doing and as he made his way home, he found himself fact to face with his stepmother-in-law and he knows that Tigress is still not used to Max making a living out of being a blacksmith after ending his kung-fu training years ago and with a smile, he said, "Hi, Tigress."

Tigress couldn't say anything to him because she can't stand to look at him anymore and for once...it wasn't even about Saori, but about how he sacrificed being a kung-fu student and also turning down the opportunity of becoming a kung-fu warrior for swordmaking and being a blacksmith and Max could tell that the rift is still there, but Max didn't let it affect him at all because he knows that position before and he said, "How are you?"

Still nothing from her and all Tigress could do is just give him so much angry dirty looks at him and with that, Max could see that this means that Tigress will not speak to him at all and just said, "Well...see you later."

Max walks away for a second while Tigress is still standing there with deep resentment over his decision to move away from kung-fu to make a living as a blacksmith as his 'passion job' and suddenly...

"Why would you do this to me?"

Max stopped for a second and he actually heard Tigress speak for the first time and he turned around to face her and he asked, "Do what?"

"When you said that you didn't want to do kung-fu anymore, that really hurt me. And when you had that opportunity to become a warrior, you let it slip away. Do you know how much that really hurt me?" asked Tigress, getting really angry.

"I didn't do that to hurt you. I did it because I just found another interest. As I said before, it's something that I've been wanting to do when I was 13...and now I'm finally living out my goal. I did what I set out to do. But I could never do anything to hurt you." Max stated.

"But you did hurt me. How could you give up kung-fu for this...this job?" asked Tigress.

"It wasn't in anyway of giving up. I just put it aside for a while." Max answered.

Tigress sighed heavily at this and even though she has come to terms with the fact that he married Saori, she's still struggling to handle his personality and his optimistic attitude about things, which had always bothered her...even when he was younger and she said, "I can still never understand you, Maximus. You haven't changed at all."

"I'm still the same guy." Max added.

"Yes...and that's one I will never even get used to." Tigress said, walking away from him.

As soon as Tigress walked out, Max blinked his eyes for a second and he just couldn't believe that even after the entire rivalry was over and done with, she still feels less than because of how Max has gone through his hardship and found positives in his life and he never wanted her to feel that way and he hopes that he can mend that rift soon.

* * *

Very deep, isn't it? Even though that there's no rivalry between Max and Tigress anymore, Tigress is still struggling to come to terms with how Max is. Hopefully, they'll be able to find common ground again.

**Voice of Tigress: Kari Wahlgren**


	14. Brothers vs Sisters

Next up...we seek more of Max and Saori's kids and see what are they up to.

* * *

Chapter 14: Brothers vs. Sisters

At the house, Seto and Kaiba were doing some arm wrestling to determine who's better at this and Seto's wrestled Kaiba's arm tighter, but Kaiba doesn't want Seto to win because he wants to beat him in this game and he's always sick of being beaten by his brother and he's got something to prove; that he's not as wimpy as Seto calls him to be and Kaiba does his best to try his hardest while Seto's gloating at him as Kaiba's trying to take him down.

"Come on, Kaiba...you ain't got nothing on me." Seto said, smirking.

Kaiba kept grunting and straining to arm wrestle Seto and he was determined to never let him win and said, "I'm not gonna lose again."

"We'll see about that." Seto added.

Seto firmed Kaiba's grip even tightly as he wrestled Kaiba's arm and he was gonna outdo him and Kaiba wasn't gonna let that happen as he tries to beat him with everything he's got...but ultimately, Seto came back swinging as he beat out Kaiba. Seto was laughing victoriously and he looked at Kaiba as he rubbed that victory straight to the eight year old cub's face...in which Kaiba was really upset about this.

"No fair! You always beat me!" Kaiba whined.

"That's because I'm bigger than you." Seto said, smirking.

Kaiba left the room really upset that he got beaten by Seto...again and soon enough, in comes Yuki coming in the room and Seto didn't really think that Yuki could try it out and to his surprise, Yuki sits down in the opposing chair and Seto laughs at this and said, "Seriously? You could get yourself hurt if you arm wrestle me."

Yuki puts her elbow out and she said, "Just shut up and arm wrestle me."

With that, Seto puts his elbow out to arm wrestle his sister and lets out a cocky smirk, thinking that it'll be easy and he said, "Gotta warn you...I'm hard to beat."

They began to arm wrestle each other, but suddenly...Yuki beat him very fast without a constant struggle and that shocked Seto to the point where he couldn't believe that Yuki took him down quick and she said, "I win."

"That's impossible! You cheated!" Seto replied.

Seto wanted a do-over with Yuki and she agreed as she grabbed his paw and arm wrestled him and Seto was dead set on beating Yuki again and Seto tried to beat her so badly that he was willing to regain victory...but he noticed that Yuki was getting a lot stronger too.

Seto's desperately trying to regain his victory streak and he almost beats her, but Yuki wasn't gonna have it as she officially beats Seto at his own game...which shocked Seto to the point where he was speechless and couldn't believe that he lost. But Yuki was smirking at him and she said, "I win."

Seto just sat there in disbelief and could not believe that he was beaten...by a girl. Not just a girl...his own sister.

"How did I lose to her?" asked Seto.

* * *

Sounds like Seto got a piece of his own medicine! Beaten by his own sister! Stay tuned for more!


	15. Try to Understand

And Max has come home with almost a heavy heart after trying to patch things up with Tigress and it was proven unsuccessful and Saori got an idea on how they can patch things up before it's too late.

* * *

Chapter 15: Try to Understand

Minutes later, Saori was sitting down on her bed for a few minutes to get some rest and only a few minutes went by and in comes Max coming in and she sat up as he walks in and she said, "Hi, Max."

Max turns around and goes over to her and kissed her on the cheek and the lips as well and asked, "How are you?"

"Just fine. I've gotten a few false alarms with this baby, so." Saori answered.

Max chuckled at that particular answer and he stretched himself up to gain his energy level after work and all Saori could do is stare at her husband for who knows how long because she knows that she can't resist Max's muscles and biceps because they were so attractive to her, but she still loves him for the same heart and some compassion and being the same person that he had been when they were younger.

"Anything been happening here?" asked Max.

"Well...Seto finally got beaten at arm-wrestling." Saori replied.

That surprised Max to hear that news because he knows that Seto is unstoppable at that game and he asked, "Who beat him?"

"Yuki did. There's nothing like girl power to take down a boy at his own game." Saori answered, with a smile.

Max chuckled softly at that and he didn't expect his daughter to be good at that game and he said, "She must've practiced a lot."

"Hard to say, but I think she's starting to become a little bit of a tomboy." Saori replied.

"She gets it from you." Max added, with a chuckle.

Saori rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly at that comment and she said, "Maybe so."

Max unbuttoned his vest and took it off and Saori could not stop looking at Max's bare chest and then, he took off his sandals and crawled towards the bed and laid there in her side and he turned to her and rubbed her belly and told her, "I saw your stepmom today."

"Really? Did you guys finally work something out?" asked Saori.

"It's hit or miss. She didn't really say anything to me when she came to the workshop and a few minutes later, she still thinks that I made a mistake on abandoning kung-fu and turned down the opportunity to be a kung-fu warrior." Max replied.

"She still thinks that way?" asked Saori.

"Yeah. But...it doesn't mean that I'm less of somebody. I'm just putting it aside for a while for this job and raising a family." Max answered.

"Max...I think maybe you should help her come to terms with your reason for putting aside kung-fu and maybe she can understand it." Saori responded.

"I can still try again. We've tried a million times before and each times, it ends up in an argument, but I'm not one to argue back or make her feel less than. I've always remained calm and never became argumentative, but Tigress...not so much." Max explained.

"How about this? All three of us can resolve this issue head on because we're all family at the end of the day." Saori suggested.

"I like that idea better. I guess you learned from me to settle any problems." Max said, with a smile.

Saori giggled in response and kissed his forehead softly and responded, "And everything else too."

She placed her paw on Max's chest and it made Max purr softly and both of them kissed each other as well and he rubbed her belly and he said, "I can't wait to be a dad again."

"And I'm looking forward to being a mom again too." Saori said, smiling.

Just then, they heard some giggling underneath their bed and Max could already guess who's under there and he said, "All right, kids. You can come out now."

"Aw, man!"

Just then, Kaiba, Serenity and Sapphire popped out from under the bed and Max looked at all three of them and said, "How long were you guys under there?"

"Long enough to hear you guys kissing." Serenity replied, making kissing noises.

"It was all Kaiba's idea." Sapphire responded.

Kaiba giggled nervously while receiving a few stink eye glares from his parents and Saori said, "Okay, kids...isn't it time you guys go to bed?"

"Aw..." all three groaned.

"I can come ask your Uncle Akashi if he can tuck you guys in." Max said, looking at them.

That was enough for all three to dash out of the room as quick as possible and Max chuckled softly at this and said, "Works everytime."

* * *

When Max puts uncle Akashi's name in, the kids definitely know of how Akashi handles Max's kids. Stay tuned for more!


	16. Ribbon Dancing Class

And we see Yuki participating in a ribbon dancing class and there were several boys in the class...that wanted a piece of Yuki.

* * *

Chapter 16: Ribbon Dancing Class

The next day, Yuki was set to show off her ribbon dance stylings and when her instructor called her to have a turn, she walked towards the podium with ribbon in hand and she proceeded to do some serious ribbon dancing as she twirled, spun and danced all the way around the stage and she did in an extremely passionate way to showcase her love for that particular talent. As she was performing, all of the boys could not resist staring at her and they would think that one of them could get to her first.

This one boy looked at her outfit and he thought to himself, 'Wonder what she would look without it.'

'This is Maximus' daughter? He must've not known how hot she looks.' another boy thought.

'I hope I get a chance to date her because she looks so beautiful...and flawless.' another boy thought.

The majority of the ribbon class dances are girls and all of the girls were cheering Yuki on and keeping all the boys in check because they all know Yuki's uncle really well and would not want to do anything to mess with him in regards to Yuki.

After her passionate performance, everyone clapped and cheered for Yuki and she took a bow and thanked them for the applause and she walked out of the stage with so much confidence and grace and all the other girls were congratulating her for that amazing effort.

Later on, they were on break and a few boys saw Yuki talking with a few girls and figured it would be their chance to see who's first and this one headstrong boy comes over behind her and he said, "Hey, babe."

Yuki turned around to see this black and grey wolf coming in with this smirk on his face, checking her out and she sighed in annoyance and asked, "What do you want now, Mikhail?"

"You, baby. The way you twirl in those ribbons...I want you to be my girlfriend." Mikhail said, clicking his tongue.

"Not on your life." Yuki replied.

Mikhail was one to never take no for an answer and he laughs at this and said, "You know you want me, baby. How can you resist this good looking guy right here?"

Yuki responded the only way she knew how; by walking away from him and suddenly, another boy comes in and he said to her, "So...you wanna know what I'm thinking right now?"

"Something disgusting, I'm sure." Yuki answered.

"Wrong. A kiss." the tiger-lion hybrid pressed on.

He reaches in for a kiss, but Yuki immediately rejected it right away and walked out with her gang of girls and a few of the girls were talking amongst themselves and the third boy, who's a little shy and somewhat quiet said to himself, "I like you, Yuki."

* * *

If Akashi had saw that, he would've given those boys hell. As for the shy one, I think he'll leave him alone. Stay tuned for more!

**Voices of the boys: Josh Keaton, Jason Marsden**

**Voice of Mikhail: Ben Diskin**


	17. False Alarm

And here's a few signs about Saori's pregnancy in case what the kids would do if their mother gives birth.

* * *

Chapter 17: False Alarm

Saori was keeping an eye on Serenity, Sapphire and Jason while Seto, Mason and Kaiba were playing with each other in mahjong and Kaiba was coming at them in this game like it was nothing and he became an expert on this one, which left the two older boys completely baffled by how good he's gotten. Just then, in comes Marcus visiting the house and he saw Saori sitting there and he said, "Hello, Mrs. Tora."

"Hello, Marcus. Please just call me Saori." Saori replied, very politely.

"Okay, Saori." Marcus said, smiling.

"The boys are over there playing mahjong if you want to see them." Saori replied, looking at the other boys.

"Okay. Thank you." Marcus replied, walking towards them.

Kaiba looks over and sees Marcus coming in and he waved to them and said, "Hi, Marcus!"

"Hey, Kaiba. Hey, guys. Mind if I play?" asked Marcus.

Mason smiled at this and he replied, "Yeah, sure. We could use a fourth guy."

The pre-teen black wolf sat down with them and he was deeply excited to play this game with them and he asked, "Who's up first?"

"Kaiba's still going and I think he's kicking our butts." Seto replied.

"I bet." Marcus said, with a chuckle.

Soon enough, Kaiba overtook Seto and Mason as he beat them in mahjong and that caused both brothers to groan in frustration while Kaiba rubbed their faces on it and Seto asked, "How'd he get so good at this?"

"Beats me. I can't follow that up." Mason replied.

"Maybe you'll have better luck, Marcus." Seto added.

Marcus scooted over as he began playing mahjong and as Kaiba started him off, Marcus started playing the game and before long, he became pretty good at the game...much to Mason, Seto and Kaiba's surprise and between both of them, Marcus has got a good strategy to take down Kaiba's winning streak and within a couple of minutes, Marcus completely owned the game like it was no one's business.

Kaiba was shocked to learn how Marcus got so good at mahjong and didn't expect that to happen so quickly and swiftly and like a pro. Kaiba tried his best to beat him at his own game, but Marcus' sudden skills and amazement literally made it a challenge for him to even play some mind tricks on the black wolf.

After just 10 minutes...Marcus finally managed to beat Kaiba at this game and that didn't sit well with the young tiger cub, but certainly gained a lot of victory for Mason and Seto. They high-fived each other and Seto said, "Dude...how did you get so good at this game?"

"Sometimes I get bored at the orphanage. I gotta have something to do and I took up mahjong just for the fun of it and...I don't know. I got really good at it." Marcus answered.

"Impressive." Mason added.

Suddenly, they all hear their mother groaning in pain and when they heard it, they were assuming that it's time for the baby to come out and Mason immediately went to his mom's side and took the best care of her as he could and he said, "Seto, go boil some water! Marcus, get some towels. Quick!"

The two did what they said to do while Mason was standing there, helping his mother in every way he possibly can and only a few minutes went by and then...

The pain leaves immediately and she gets herself up and takes a deep sigh of relief and said, "False alarm."

"Again?" asked Mason.

"Yeah, sorry. But it's good you came prepared." Saori replied.

Just then, Mason calls out both Seto and Marcus and said, "Another false alarm!"

"Are you serious?" asked Seto.

"Yep." Mason answered.

Seto and Marcus came back to the room and they were a little miffed at this false alarm and Seto said, "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry, guys." Saori replied.

* * *

Well...until Saori's actually giving birth, we'll see what happens. Stay tuned!


	18. A Visit from Tigress

A little sample of the reconciliation scene between Max and Tigress.

* * *

Chapter 18: A Visit from Tigress

That evening, Max was sitting on the couch and he was a little unsure about how this will go down between him and Tigress and there's nothing he wants more than to reassure her that this is the path he's chosen to be on, but could never deliberately abandon kung-fu on purpose because he still has a lot of fight in him. Soon enough, in comes Akashi and once he figured it out, he had to come as a mediator in case something goes down.

Saori comes downstairs and is surprised to see Akashi there and she said, "What are you doing here? This is between Max and Tigress."

"I read Max's aura, you know. I had to come over to keep the peace." Akashi replied.

"It's okay, Saori. I might need the support." Max said, in a calm tone.

That one calm tone always kept Saori at ease and she took one look at her brother and she lets out a deep sigh and said, "Okay, you can stay."

"So...Tigress is still mad at you for quitting kung-fu?" asked Akashi.

"I didn't quit. I just put it aside for a while to do what I'm deeply passionate about." Max replied.

"He's trying to help Tigress see that he'll always do kung-fu. And I can understand his reason for sacrificing what he originally wanted to do to start a family." Saori answered.

"The last thing I want...what we want...is to have a rift between me and your stepmom. That would really hurt our family and I don't want to do anything to damage that relationship." Max added.

"I know you don't, Max." Saori added.

"And you're doing a good job taking care of my little sis...just like I always knew you would." Akashi added.

Soon enough, Tigress comes in the room and sees Akashi, Saori and Max sitting together and she walks in as everyone's taking notice and Saori said, "Thanks for coming, mom."

* * *

You only saw a little bit of it, but the full reconciliation is coming!


	19. Resolving

And we see the relationship getting repaired between Tigress and Max.

* * *

Chapter 19: Resolving

Tigress comes in the room and she sits next to Saori and she couldn't help but notice that she's pregnant again and she asked, "Another baby?"

"Yes, mom. It's our eighth baby cub." Saori answered.

Tigress had mixed reactions on whether or not she was truly satisfied or disturbed that Max and Saori have made more kids than ever, but she couldn't let that get in the way of knowing that she's gonna be a grandmother again and she said, "I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you." Saori replied.

Just then, she turned to face Max once again and she still couldn't stand to look at him anymore, but Saori told her stepmom, "Please work this out, you guys. You're family."

"Max is far from family, Saori. He still hurt me for throwing away his opportunity to be a kung-fu warrior just so that he can have a job and raise a family." Tigress stated.

Max didn't want this to turn into an ugly fight and he wanted to start it off very calmly and he said, "Tigress...I don't wanna fight about this. I just want us to work things out and hopefully come to an understanding that I would never intentionally do that to make you upset with me."

"Well, you did. And I'll tell you why; you have disrespected me." Tigress stated, very bluntly.

Akashi didn't like where this was going and it felt like Tigress was trying to re-start pitting old wounds on Max again and he said, "What has Max ever done to disrespect you?"

"He knows what he's done." Tigress added.

"But what? What have I done to make you feel that way?" asked Max.

"Tigress...I can read your aura, you know. The reason you feel like Max is disrespecting you is because he's sacrificing kung-fu to follow his own path. And also...you feel as if you don't think Saori deserves to be with him and that you wished she could've never have married him." Akashi pointed out.

That didn't sit well with both Max and Saori as they heard that from Akashi with regards to Tigress being unhappy that Saori married Max because she had a history of bad blood with Max when he was younger and Max was speechless as to what transpired and Saori asked, "Is that true?"

"When you married Max, it felt like I was losing my stepdaughter because you know I was so jealous and spiteful towards him when he was younger and once he said that he was gonna put off kung-fu for being a blacksmith, I felt a huge amount of anger towards him for making that decision." Tigress answered.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" asked Saori.

"Because I was too mad at Max to even say it and I didn't want you to get the wrong idea that I disapprove of this marriage. I'm happy you two are together and that he's been taking such good care of you. I just wished that...that you would've been better off with someone else other than Max." Tigress replied.

"Mom...we've been in love with each other since we were kids and he's always been there for me; to comfort me, make sure I was safe, to tell me he loves me and I've been very fortunate enough to have seven kids and another one on the way with him. But you still have to get used to the fact that he's your stepson-in-law. If you don't meet him halfway, what would that do to our family?" asked Saori.

"And I have been doing some training on my own. I can still do kung-fu. Just not as much. It's nice and it's good and all...but it doesn't make any money." Max responded.

"Max is a hard worker, you know. With or without kung-fu, it's no different." Akashi stated.

Tigress sighed at this and she looks at Max in the eye and she said, "I guess I shouldn't have been so spiteful towards you after that decision you made."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's all water under the bridge now." Max added.

"Always one to forgive so easily." Tigress stated, ears flattened.

"Still the same as always." Max said, smiling.

Tigress looked at him and she stood up, went towards him and gave him a hug with tears coming down her face and she said, "I'm so sorry, Max."

"It's okay, Tigress. I was never mad at you anyway." Max stated.

Saori comes over and joins in on the hug alongside Akashi and all of them just hugged each other, like one big happy family.

* * *

And the relationship has been mended! Stay tuned for more!


	20. Accepting the Sparring

And there's only one more way to see if Max still got the kung-fu skills.

* * *

Chapter 20: Accepting the Sparring

After that, it's pretty clear that the rift is over and Tigress will try her best to accept Max once again and she's deifnitely happy to see the person Max is becoming, even though that part remained the same since then and there's one thing in order to make sure that everything's cool now.

"Max...there's one request I want to ask of you." Tigress stated.

"What's that?" asked Max.

"In order to prove that you still do kung-fu, I want to spar with you." Tigress replied.

Max looked at her like she was crazy after that request came about that he wanted to spar with her for old time's sake and asked, "You serious?"

"Yes, I am. Just so that you still got the skills." Tigress added.

"And I want to spar with you as well...after Tigress." Akashi responded.

That sounded a lot surreal to spar with his stepmother-in-law and his wolf brother-in-law and Saori was really excited for him and he turned to them and with a smile on his face, he said, "I accept."

* * *

This is gonna be a great sparring session! Stay tuned!


	21. Still Got It

And check out Max's sparring session with Tigress and you can see whether he still got his skills or not.

* * *

Chapter 21: Still Got It

Akashi, Tigress, Saori and most of Max's kids were waiting on the open training hall to watch Max and see if he's still got it and Mason was definitely excited to see his father's fighting skills and he said, "I haven't seen my dad spar for a long time, so it's gonna be amazing to see how he does."

"I bet ya dad's gonna kick Tigress' butt." Seto said, smiling.

Seto received a poke in the elbow by Tigress and he looked at her with this stern look on her face and he said, "What? I'm just saying."

"Try to keep those thoughts to yourself." Tigress stated, through clenched teeth.

Soon enough, in comes Max walking by and he seems extremely calm, cool and collected as he gets to have a spar with Tigress and by the time she came over to face him, she could still see the same demeanor Max has when he's ready for sparring and that tells her that he's gonna showcase his talents yet again and she asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yep. Are you?" asked Max.

"I've been ready." Tigress replied.

Max nods his head at this and before long, they bowed to each other as they get ready for this spar and after Mason banged the gong and they were ready for sparring and Tigress hasn't lost a beat when she tackled Max, but Max never lost a step as well and he tackled her back and his quick moves really brought his groove back and totally regained his skills.

"He still got it." Akashi said, in amazement.

"Yeah, he does." Saori responded.

Max continued to spar with Tigress with zero limits and he still showcased his signature moves that he's been taught and self-taught as a cub and he has grown to accustom those skills as he got older and Tigress learned that the older he got, the more fully skilled he had became and they have advanced far more than anything.

Max dodged all of Tigress' punches and blows and kicks and does them so gracefully, even as he does backflips and splits and matrix-esque like moves and Max always strikes back with every single move he made while Tigress tried to find a weak spot for him. But as hard as Tigress went, max went completely all-out harder.

"I bet you guys two egg rolls to say that dad wins." Seto said.

"Four if he kicks her butt." Mason added, countering the bet.

"Six to say Tigress finishes him off." Akashi added.

Saori clears her throat and glared at them for making a bet on who beats who and she said, "Really, guys? That's just juvenile."

Akashi glares at her for that and said, "Aw, come on, sis."

"It is. Besides, I'll say 20 egg rolls to say that Max will come back swinging." Saori said, with a smirk.

"Mom, you...betting? I'm shocked." Seto said, gasping.

Meanwhile, Max has still got his energy running as Tigress continues fighting him and both tigers were refusing to back down, but in different levels. Tigress doesn't wanna go down without a fight and retains her brutal ways while Max has a different idea of strength with an added calmness and serene zen-like strategy.

Tigress leaps up from the ground to pin him, but Max immediately leapt up and kicked her straight to the face and did a backflip on top of that and landed back on the ground with his feet while Tigress landed on her back, but she got up and kept on sparring with him like it's no one's business. But Tigress could clearly see that Max has got the strongest skills out of anyone around this room.

And it was very clear to everyone to see who's gonna come out on top.

Before long, Tigress attacked him and she gave out many brutal punches to Max, but little did she know...Max has something up his sleeve that Tigress never saw coming. He grabbed her by the leg, spun around like a tornado and he threw her in the air and slammed her straight to the shin with a thunderkick that sent her flying out of the roof all in the air.

Everyone was stunned and amazed that Max just did that and it even surprised Max as well and Akashi gasped in shock and asked, "How did you...?"

After only 3 minutes, they saw Tigress falling down and landed back to the ground and Max walks by to see her laying there awake and she looked at Max and she asked, "You've done well."

"No hard feelings?" asked Max.

"None at all. You've been taught really well." Tigress replied.

Max lends out a hand to help her up and Tigress immediately accepts it and gets pulled up as she's standing and she smiled at him and said, "Who taught you how to fight like that?"

"From you...Akashi, the Five...and also myself." Max replied.

Tigress smiled at that response and with that, they shook their hands and hugged it out and it definitely became a huge symbol of love and family that Max has always shared over those years and Akashi stepped in and said, "Now it's my turn for you to take me on."

"Oh, I've been waiting for this for a long time." Max said, smiling.

Saori whispered amongst her kids and said, "I'll give you 40 egg rolls if Max can defeat your uncle."

* * *

Next up...Max spars with Akashi! How awesome will this be?


	22. Max vs Akashi

Next up...the sparring continues! This time, it's Max vs. Akashi!

* * *

Chapter 22: Max vs. Akashi

Akashi and Max faced each other for the first time as they got themselves ready to spar with each other and both of them were shirtless as they were ready for this sparring session together and Akashi was extremely confident that he's got this down in the bag and that he will win this, but Max is completely cool and calm through all of this and he's been ready to spar with Akashi for a long time.

"You ready to lose?" asked Akashi, with a smirk.

"I'm ready to watch you lose." Max replied.

Akashi chuckled at this and he said, "We'll see about that."

Akashi got on his basic stance with a huge amount of strength and ready to attack while Max remained in his zen state, but ready to take Akashi down a notch and as soon as the gong rings, Akashi immediately slammed Max down hard, but Max always comes out swinging like never before and Max sparred with him very harder and he knows all of Akashi's moves to take down anyone...especially Max himself.

"You haven't changed your skills, I see." Max said.

Akashi panted heavily and he said, "I may be old...but at least I still have a lot of fight in me."

"It shows." Max added.

Max went full throttle and attacked Akashi straight-up with the usage of backflips, punches, kicks and multiple amounts of moves and fighting skills that he got in him while Akashi's expanding, relentless moves keeps getting stronger and brutal by the minute and Akashi had a hope that Max won't stand a chance to defeat him, but Max is never one to be easily underestimated.

With that tactic, Max went forward to taking down Akashi with every single blow he can muster...only to discover it's a clone version of him. Max grunts at that and he's willing to tackle every clone until he gets the real one and some of the clones were attacking Max, but Max struck back harder.

He kicked three clones straight to the groin and with their legs spread out, it made it easier for him to attck their vulnerable spots and he did a few spin kicks and clobbered the snot out of the other clones and Max is beginning to become a little ruthless, but still remains his calm demeanor when he fights and as the real Akashi sees that all of the clones were defeated or almost defeated, he can tell that Max's strength in fighting has increased.

"Did he train for this?" Akashi whispered.

Suddenly, Akashi sees the other clone of himself get beaten and kicked the pants out of and just then...it was him and Max and he was gonna use the same move he used on Tigress on him and he did just that, except it was 1,000 times harder than ever and Akashi could not believe that Max defeated him.

Max chuckled softly and walked over to him and he asked, "Mind spreading your legs out for me?"

Akashi immediately knew what that meant and before he could say anything else, Akashi puts his paws up and said, "I surrender! I surrender!"

That definitely shocked everyone, including Max because normally Akashi would never surrender to a fight until the opponent surrenders as well and that was amazing for Max to hear and he said, "It's about time."

"Who taught you to fight like that?" asked Akashi.

"Who else?" Max said, smiling.

Akashi facepalmed himself and he chuckled to himself and realized that he's referring to himself and said, "Of course."

* * *

Max wins! And Akashi gets to forfeit! Stay tuned for more!


	23. Thoughts About the New Baby

Now we can focus on the cub's perspective on the new baby and reactions...totally mixed and one of instigation.

* * *

Chapter 23: Thoughts About the New Baby

At home, Mason and the rest of the siblings start to wonder what their lives are gonna be like with the new baby around and there was a mixture of fear, anxiety and excitement coming in some of them when it comes out and Mason was really stoked up about the new baby and he's completely excited to teach him everything he knows while Seto, Kaiba, Serenity and Sapphire weren't quite too sure about having the new baby and Yuki's got a few mixed feelings about it while Jason was asleep.

"So...what do you think about the new baby?" asked Seto.

"Honestly, I really don't know. I kinda like where we are right now...so why should anything change?" asked Kaiba.

"Isn't it obvious? Once the baby's born, it's gonna have all the attention, all the love and all the sharing in the world and we're gonna be the ones that will be forgotten." Seto answered.

Kaiba didn't really think that it would happen, but he started thinking about if that would happen and it made him feel a little insecure about this and he turned to Seto and asked, "Do you think that would happen?"

"Would mommy and daddy forget about me too?" asked Serenity, really worriedly.

"And me?" asked Sapphire, worriedly as well.

Seto groans at those questions that they just asked and he turned to them and said, "Do I have to explain everything? Yes, they're gonna forget about you!"

The reaction he received from those three were very obvious; they're scared that their parents would forget about them as soon as the new baby comes into their lives and that things would never be the same again and Kaiba asked, "They are?"

"Yes, they will. Everything that you have will be given to the new baby and you might never get them back." Seto said, drilling that thought into their minds.

"I don't want to share my toys with the baby." Kaiba said, worriedly.

"Nor mine." Serenity added.

Maosn overheard everything that Seto placed into their heads and he sighed heavily and came to them and said, "Don't listen to what Seto tells you. Most of those are just lies."

"It's true though, Mase. Once the new baby comes, none of us would matter." Seto added.

"Mason, I don't wanna lose my toys to the new baby." Kaiba said, frightened.

Mason patted Kaiba's head and he assured Kaiba that it could never happen and he said, "You're not going to. All you guys, you don't have to worry about this because whatever Seto said...it's not true."

"Yeah, but what if it is, Mason?" asked Serenity.

Yuki was the only one silent about this whole thing and she wasn't sure whether to take Mason's side or Seto's side in regards to the baby because she was still disappointed that it's another boy this time around and she couldn't think about anything else other than that.

"I'm sure Yuki agrees." Seto added.

"Let's ask her." Mason replied.

Before they even got a chance to do so, Yuki immediately left the room and ran upstairs to her room, which left the others literally perplexed as to what happened and Mason said, "See what you did?"

"No, you see what you did." Seto retorted.

Soon enough, all of them started arguing with each other over the new baby and debating on the changes that might come with it and the myriad of confusion and fears started to take over all of them and just then, they were unaware that their two concerned parents and their uncle came over to all of them minus Yuki arguing and Akashi decided to end it with doing what he does best; pulling a few tricks on them...which made them stop.

"Okay, what is going on here?" asked Akashi, folding his arms.

Kaiba immediately went over to his mom's side, almost in tears and said, "We don't want a new baby!"

That confused Saori the most as to what's bothering Kaiba and she asked, "Why not?"

"I don't want you guys to give away all my toys and all the attention! Please don't forget about us! We'll be good, we swear!" Kaiba pleaded, tearfully.

Then the realization immediately sets in...that they're afraid that they're gonna be forgotten once the new baby comes in and Max looks at them for a second and Mason stepped in and said, "Seto's filling their minds with stuff like that, thinking that you guys are gonna forget all about them."

Akashi, Saori and Max glared at Seto for making that kind of assumption to fill their minds with so much paranoia about it and Seto said, "It had to happen sometime."

"Seto...you know better than to fill everything in the little one's heads full of nonsense." Saori said, glaring at him.

"Well...I felt the same way when Yuki and Serenity were born. So I had to tell them the same ways I felt." Seto added.

"If you were nervous about the baby, why didn't you just tell us?" asked Max.

"Because you guys were so happy with the baby and I kinda felt like we'd be forgotten and you'd have less time with us and I did exaggerate them so they can feel the same way I felt." Seto answered.

"Mason acts like he doesn't care." Serenity added.

"I'm the only one that's really excited about a new baby brother coming in." Mason stated.

Saori gathers them together and she told them, "Listen...we have to be honest; your father and I are also nervous about the new baby coming out too. But I guarantee you...we will never forget about you."

"Yeah, you guys are gonna help out with the baby too and that's what will draw us closer together as a family. Always remember that we love you all so much and we still will. Nothing can change that." Max answered.

Those comforting words started to ease Kaiba, Serenity and Sapphire immediately and they were happy to hear that they're still gonna be loved, regardless. Mason smiled at them and he said, "Like I said, it'll make us a stronger family."

"You always know what to say, don't you, Mase?" asked Akashi.

"Yep." Mason replied.

"Hey, where's Yuki?" asked Saori.

Max could tell that Yuki's been really disappointed since they broke the news about having a new brother and he said, "I'll go talk to her."

"And I'll deal with Seto for filling the little one's heads with that imagination." Akashi replied, looking at Seto.

Seto chuckled nervously at this and he said, "Can't you take a joke, uncle?"

* * *

And we get to see how Yuki feels about the new baby and leave it to Max to comfort her. You'll find out soon!


	24. Reassuring

And we get Yuki's own opinion about the new baby and it's not what you expected.

* * *

Chapter 24: Reassuring

Max walked towards the hallway to find Yuki and soon enough, he saw that the door was open a little and he heard her crying and that deeply concerns him and as he slowly walked over to the room, he could see her laying in her bed and he said, "Yuki?"

"Leave me alone." Yuki said, sniffling.

Max blinked his eyes a few times and he couldn't leave her alone in that position and he said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, dad."

Max knew that she's not fine and obviously, it's an instinct that he's always had whenever someone's trying to keep something from themselves and he asked, "You're still upset about the baby, aren't you?"

And once that subject hit, Yuki slowly turned to face her dad with tears in her eyes and it deeply concerns him to see that the impact that the news had on her really hit her hard and she replied, "Why would you want another baby? You barely have enough time for the seven you have right now."

Once Yuki said that, Max had no idea that this was how she felt and he asked, "You were angry about this?"

"About having another boy. I really wanted another sister. I've already dealt with Mason, Seto, Kaiba and Jason. I don't know if I can deal with another brother." Yuki added.

Max sighed heavily at this and he comes closer to Yuki and he said, "I know it's a lot to take in. Trust me, I've had to live with 60+ brothers and sisters when I was younger, but the one thing I've always done is give them a chance. The bottom line is, Yuki...it'll bring us closer as a family. Your mother and I felt the same exact joy when you were born. You're our first daughter and that in itself is very special."

Yuki wiped her tears and she asked, "Really?"

"Of course. Having you as our first daughter has been the best thrill of our lives and your mom and I made a pact together that no matter what happens when you get older, you'll still be our treasure. And you can never be replaced." Max replied.

"I never thought of that before." Yuki said, surprised.

"I think about it everyday. Nothing's gonna change that." Max stated.

With that, Yuki hugged her father and she was crying as well and Max kissed her on the forehead as he hugged her and he said, "I love you, Yuki."

"I love you too, daddy." Yuki said, crying.

They were unaware that Saori was watching the whole thing and she just witnessed a daddy/daughter moment right in front of her and she was smiling throughout and Max said, "All right, dear. You can come back in now."

Saori came in the room and she said, "I never left."

She reached in and hugged Yuki as well and Max joined in too for a group hug and Yuki said, "I love you guys."

"We love you, too. Always." Saori replied.

* * *

Now the kids are looking forward to having the new baby. What's the name gonna be? You'll never know...especially Akashi. But it will come later in the story!


	25. Leader of the Okami Clan

And the kids meet up their auntie Akami!

* * *

Chapter 25: Leader of the Okami Clan

Towards the next day, Akashi took Max, Saori and all of the kids to see the leader of the Okami clan and Kaiba was a little curious about those cuts on Akashi's eye as he keeps staring at it and he asked, "Uncle, how'd you get that scar on your eye?"

Akashi turned around to see his little nephew standing there and he lets out a simple chuckle and replied, "Well...it's kind of a long story, Kaiba. But I think I'll tell you about it when you get older."

"Aw, why do I have to wait until I get older?" asked Kaiba, whining.

Max clears his throat and looked at Kaiba straight in the eye and said, "Now, Kaiba...some things are not meant for anyone to know who's under the age of 13. Understand?"

"Okay, dad." Kaiba said, flattening ears.

Before long, they were on the center of the Heavenly Tower and most of them were amazed by how it looked like as opposed to what they were living before that and Yuki said, "Looks like being a leader of the Tora clan must be fabulous."

"It's not the most easiest job, Yuki. Trust me." Saori replied.

"You used to be the leader?" asked Sapphire.

"Yes, I did." Saori answered.

Max nodded his head in agreement as he knew about his mate being the leader of the Tora clan at one point and he said, "Your mother was the best leader at that time...and one of the most beautiful leaders."

Saori blushed after Max made those compliments about her leadership skills and being beautiful as well and she couldn't be more luckier to have him in her life and be that fortunate to have seven kids with him...and another one coming soon.

Soon enough, Akashi waved to his former guards as he walked past them while they bowed to Saori and Max as they came in...which pretty much stunned Akashi that they bowed to them rather than him as well and he looked at the guards and said, "What's up with that?"

"Good morning, Akashi." one guard said.

After that, they met up with Akami, who's sitting on her throne and she was surprised to see her father, aunt, little tiger brother and all the kids and she said, "Hi, guys! How are you?"

"Doing good, Akami." Max replied, bowing to her.

Akami stands up and walked down the steps as she hugged her father first and then she felt completely happy for Saori as they anticipate the birth of Saori's eighth child coming soon and she asked, "How are you?"

"Doing fine. I'm just so excited to see my new baby coming out." Saori said, smiling.

"So...what are you gonna name him?" asked Akami.

Saori giggled in response and she said, "It's still a secret."

Then, Akami turned to Max and she hugged him as well and he hugged back too and she asked, "How's life as a blacksmith?"

"A little exhausting. But...I'm loving every minute of it." Max replied.

"I had always known you have a passion for these things and now you're living your dream." Akami said, smiling.

Max smiled back as well and he said, "Not nearly as happy as I am seeing you follow Saori's footsteps."

Saori agreed with that and she was definitely proud of her niece taking on the task at being a leader of the Okami clan and Akami looked at all seven of Max and Saori's kids and they couldn't be anymore happier to see her in person. Witnessing all of this made Akashi completely emotional as tears started to come out of his eyes and Max saw it already and asked, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It just seems like long ago...Akami was my little girl and now she's all grown up. I couldn't be more proud of her." Akashi said, tearfully.

"Aw, come on, Akashi. You're gonna make me cry." Max said, voice breaking.

* * *

How cool is that! Akami's meeting up with her cousins! Stay tuned for more! On the next chapter,Saori's gonna give birth and Akashi has to look out for Max's younger kids to babysit...and get pranked on.

**Voice of Akami: Veronica Taylor**


	26. It's Time

And the time has come! And you know what that means!

* * *

Chapter 26: It's Time

A few months have gone by since Max and Saori have found out that they were gonna have another son and Max has been nonstop in taking good care of her every need and despite a couple of symptoms that comes with the pregnancy that Saori's been dealing with, Max has never stopped caring for her. Some of the kids were also helping her as well and Akashi has been checking on her sister every now and again...even when Saori kicked him out of her room after being a little too overbearing.

But through it all, Saori couldn't wait for the baby to come out pretty soon so that she and Max can bask in the glory of another set of parenthood and the joys of being parents again.

Meanwhile, Akashi had to babysit some of Max's younger kids while Max is taking good care of Saori and all of the younger kids really liked being around their Uncle Akashi while some of them like to get on his nerves a little bit and Sapphire played a couple of little tricks on her uncle and it could be little things like fake spider in the face while he's sleeping or taking his pants when he's bathing.

Most of those tricks completely get on Akashi's nerves...mostly the taking the pants thing and Akashi took the risk of running in his underwear just to get his pants back to prevent further embarrassment from happening and he's always one to pull pranks back at the younger kids if they ever prank their uncle.

But the hardest person to babysit was Jason because he's always stuck on diaper duty...everytime he changes Jason's diaper, Jason urinates all over his face or parts of his fur and after that happens, he hears a giggle from Jason and Akashi was not the most amused as he gets peed on by Jason.

"Max...by the time I see you, you'd better run fast." Akashi said, muttering.

Akashi was definitely the victim of Serenity and Kaiba's pranks as he got pantsed, squirted with water, tripped, flipped and everything else that goes along with it, but Akashi fought back by pranking them back and making them eat their vegetables.

One night, as Max and Saori were sleeping together, Saori felt a huge sharp pain in her and she groaned in pain and Max woke up to her being in discomfort and he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Max...I..."she began, before she screamed louder in pain.

Max was getting really anxious as to what's wrong with her and he immediately popped out of bed and went to her side and asked, "What's wrong?!"

"Max...I think it's time!" Saori exclaimed.

* * *

To quote Honey Boo Boo: THE BABY'S COMING! Saori's baby is finally coming! Stay tuned to see what happens next!


	27. The Baby's Coming

And the baby's gonna come out! The day the baby is born!

* * *

Chapter 27: The Baby's Coming!

Just then, the sounds of their mother screaming in pain woke up all of the kids and they immediately assumed that it was another one of their mother's false alarms, but two of them could see that this might be real when they heard their mother cry out in pain and Mason immediately looked at his mother and he was completely trying his best to keep his cool despite being freaked out about what's happening to to her.

"Mason, go get some warm towels!" Max exclaimed.

Mason did exactly what his father said and went towards their bathroom to get some fresh towels while Yuki sprung into action to help her mother right away and she asked, "What should I do?"

"Go find uncle Akashi and aunt Miyo and tell them to bring your mother to the hospital." Akashi replied.

"No need to. We'll get you there in a flash." Akashi said, immediately rushing over to the room to help Saori get to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Seto, Kaiba, Sapphire, Serenity and Jason were still awake from what's happening and Kaiba was a little curious about what's happening and he asked, "Is mommy having the baby?"

"That's not possible, Kaiba. It's probably just another one of her false alarms." Seto replied.

Akashi overheard that and he grabbed Seto by the tail and he asked, "Does this sound like a false alarm to you?"

"Seto, please hold my hand!" Saori exclaimed.

Seto did what his mother told him, but the minute he held her hand, he felt a huge coarse of pain on his knuckles and Seto yowled in deep pain and that confirms that it's all for real and he immediately releases himself from his mom's grip and Seto shuddered and moaned in pain and he said, "Okay...maybe not."

"Come on, we gotta head over to the hospital fast!" Max exclaimed.

Before long, they had made over to the hospital and Saori kept breathing as hard as she could and one of her nurses came over and she said, "Saori! Akashi told me you were coming here. We weren't expecting you for another 4 weeks."

"Well...the baby decided to make an early exit tonight." Saori replied.

"How far apart are the contractions?" asked the nurse.

Akashi was holding onto Saori's hand, but he felt his hand being crushed hard while holding his sister and replied, "Does that answer your question?"

"No worries. We'll put you in a hospital room for delivering the baby right away." the nurse added.

Max was standing right beside her as they entered the hospital room and he's giving out all the support he could muster through it all and coached her through it and all he can do is hope for the best and after that, Miyo and Akashi were left to watch out for the seven kids and soon enough, in comes Arizona, Sierra, Musaki and Summer coming over immediately and they went in Saori's hospital room and Sierra was the first one to see Saori in her current state.

"We came over as soon as we found out. Are you okay?" asked Sierra.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Saori replied.

Arizona came over to both tigers' side and he asked them, "So...this is really it? Saori's gonna give birth?"

"Any minute now. Until then, I have to get her through this." Max replied.

"Okay...we'll be in the hallway." Musaki stated.

All four of them left the room while Saori and Max wait anxiously to see if it'll come out and all Max could do is keep an eye on her and make sure that he's there for the birth and Saori strokes Max's cheek and said, "I'm so happy you're here with me, Max."

Max holds onto Saori's paw and he said, "I'm glad to be here for this moment. I've had seven kids with you and I can't believe that this is gonna be our eighth." Max said, with much happiness.

Saori blinked her eyes at this and Max sighed heavily and while they're waiting for their eighth kid, they started thinking about Marcus because they know that he needs a home and he has been like family to them as they get along well with all of the kids and they figured that the only thing that they can do is take him in as their first adopted kid.

Before they even got a chance to talk about it, in comes the contraction as Saori groaned in pain and right away, the nurses came over to help her out right away and Saori took a few deep breaths and began pushing harder as ever and while she was pushing, she was also screaming her head off and even roaring louder as ever while Max is holding onto her.

"You can do this, Saori! Don't give up!" Max exclaimed.

Saori knew that the pain was too much to endure, but with Max helping her along the way, it helped her get through this ordeal and she kept pushing as hard as she could and kept going and going until...

"I see the head!" the nurse exclaimed.

And just like that...they heard a baby cry coming out of the womb and soon enough, they baby is finally out and from the minute Max and Saori heard the baby cry, they knew that it's here and they couldn't wait to soak in that moment.

"It's a boy."

* * *

It's a boy! Next up...the introduction of Max and Saori's eighth cub!


	28. The New Baby

And we get to meet the new baby and Saori finally names the little newborn.

* * *

Chapter 28: The New Baby

Minutes after giving birth, Saori held onto this little baby in her arms and she's overwhelmed with so much emotion and joy over this little one and Max felt completely happy for her and the little one as well and he stroked her forehead and said, "I'm so proud of you, Saori."

"Maxie...can you believe that we brought this cub into the world?" asked Saori, tearfully.

"It hasn't even hit me yet...and I'm so grateful to have this experience with you." Max said, almost in tears.

Saori gives the newborn to Max and as he's holding onto his cub, he couldn't help but let every single emotion come out of the surface and he said, "Hello, my son."

Max looked at this white tiger cub that they brought into the world and he smiled at him and he could see that they both share the same stripes, forehead, nose and whiskers and he lets out a small chuckle and said, "He's so beautiful."

"Just like his father." Saori said, smiling.

Soon enough, they looked at him and they could see all the beautiful features that he got from both of them and Saori said, "He's got your cute whiskers and smile."

"And he's got your smile too." Max responded.

Both of them were completely in awe over this new bundle of joy that they have and soon enough, they see Musaki pop his head in and he said, "You guys want some visitors?"

"Sure. Come on in." Saori said, smiling.

With that, everyone walked into the hospital room and from the minute they saw the new baby, everyone went 'aww' at the first sight coming in and they can tell that it definitely brought them closer together than they have ever been before.

One look and Yuki began to change her mindset about what it's like to have a newborn sibling into the family and how joyful it must be for the parents and she was amazed by how cute he looked at the first sight of her new baby brother and she said, "He looks so cute."

Just then, a surprise visit from Tigress and Taiga completely became the highlight of their day to make it more special for Saori and Max. Taiga took one look at the new cub and he immediately fell in love with his new grandson and he said, "Hey there, little one. I'm your grandpa."

Just then, the baby cub started opening his eyes and saw his mom and dad for the first time and Saori looked up to see the baby opening his eyes and it fueled more excitement for them and Max said, "Did he open his eyes?"

"Yes, he did." Saori replied.

Max looks up and sees his new son's eyes started blinking and he was amazed by all of this and he said, "Wow...this is so awesome."

"The new baby looks like you, dad." Mason added.

"What are you guys gonna call him?" asked Miyo.

Saori was really coy about this and she knew that she was gonna name the baby from a most unexpected way in front of her husband and she smiled at the baby and Akashi said, "I already know that she's gonna name him after her brother."

Saori giggled in response to that and she said, "No. I wanted to keep it a surprise until he was born and now that he's here...I'm gonna name the baby after his father."

Everyone gasped in complete surprise after hearing that Saori just named the baby after Max and no one expected that to happen...especially Max himself. Max was full of shock and humility the minute Saori named the new baby after his father and it was just amazing to know that it's the second coming of Maximus.

Nobody was even more shocked, puzzled and speechless than Akashi himself after hearing that and he just couldn't find the words to say or to react for that matter and Miyo was surprised that that decision made Akashi speechless, but maybe not so surprised that he didn't see this coming.

"Maximus Okinawa Okami Bushido-Akio...the second."

"I like it." Saori said, smiling.

Everyone was filled with so much emotion since the birth and it was a happy moment that they can savor for the rest of their lives and indeed...it did bring them closer than ever and even more than that...it brought them all together as one.

* * *

Maximus II is born! How awesome is that? This story isn't over yet! Stay tuned for more!

**Voice of Taiga: Peter Cullen**


	29. Welcome to the Family

And we get to see everyone have this moment to experience the introduction of Maximus II to the whole family. Later in this chapter, you thought this was the end, but there's one question that remains; will Marcus have a family? The answer is in this chapter...

* * *

Chapter 29: Welcome to the Family

In the early hours of that morning, Max, Saori and the others went back to the house to celebrate this joyous occasion of Maximus II being born into the world and the name suggestion that Saori put out still surprised everyone around here, inlcuding Akashi and Max as well. But none of that didn't even matter because they're still happy about this moment and everyone was really looking at this kid and Akashi knew that there will be something special about him in the future pretty soon.

All the kids were immediately in love with their new baby brother right away and Kaiba looks at Maximus II and all those thoughts about him stealing the attention from the family vanished away as he looked into the baby's eyes and he hoped that he'll be a good big brother to him and he puts his paw out to his own and he smiled at him.

Watching Kaiba getting along with the new baby definitely reassured both Saori and Max that they'll always love him and watch over him and all the other kids got closer as the older kids took turns holding the baby and Mason took one look at the baby and he immediately fell in love right off the bat and he smiled at the cub and he said, "Hey, little bro."

Mason placed his thumb on the cub's nose and forehead and he couldn't help chuckle as little Maximus coos and soon enough, he passes it onto Seto and once Seto looks at the baby, he tried his best to keep a straight face, but the look in the cub's eyes brought him a softer side that he never shows frequently and Seto sighed heavily as he looks at Maximus II and he said, "Hey, dude. Hope I'm not stuck on diaper duty. I'll leave that to your uncle Akashi."

Just then, he passed it down to Yuki and once she looked at the new baby, she felt something deep inside of her that really shows a huge amount of unconditonal love that comes with it and it makes her realize how precious life really is when a new baby is born into the family and all those thoughts she had originally had were gone away when she looked at the baby's eyes.

Then...something amazing just happened as Maximus II leans over and falls asleep on his sister's chest and it was just the cutest thing that she's witnessed and she couldn't help but smile and just fall in love with him all the same and Saori said, "I think he likes you."

"Me too." Yuki said, smiling.

Just then, Akashi comes over to hold him for a while and as he looks at the new cub, he could tell that he's definitely into this little one and he said, "Little Maximus...pretty good ring to it."

Then, as he held the cub, Akashi heard some water running and he looks down and noticed that the baby is peeing on Akashi's pants, which left him both surprised and a little bit embarrassed that the baby actually did that to him and the two parents couldn't help but try to stifle their laughter and Miyo comes over to hold the baby and she told him, "I think that's code for 'hi, uncle'."

Akashi sighed at this and he looked at Miyo in the eye and said, "I'm gonna find some new pants."

As soon as Akashi left, Tigress comes over and she looked at both Max and Saori and she just couldn't help but feel tremendous happiness for the two of them as they have this new baby in their lives and she said, "I want you to know that I am extremely proud of you two for having this wonderful moment in your lives and I hope that you'll do everything you can keep this family stronger."

"We've always done that, Tigress. Nothing will break this family apart and that's what we've been doing since we've gotten married and started a family. And whatever we taught our kids, we will definitely instill them in our new baby." Max replied.

"I'm really proud of the way you took care of our stepdaughter, Max." Taiga spoke up.

"Thank you." Max said.

Miyo brought little Maximus back to Saori and both parents were holding him and their joy just can't be contained because they're completely over the moon happy about their new son.

* * *

A few hours later

Marcus walks into the house and wanted to find where everyone else is and as he went upstairs, he sees Max coming out of the room and walking towards the hallway and he said, "Hi, Max."

Max looks up and sees Marcus standing there and he said, "Hey, Marcus. What brings you here?"

"I was just visiting." Marcus replied.

Max nodded his head in response and he said, "Well, I'm glad you're here. Come with me."

Marcus wasn't sure what this was all about, but he followed Max as they went back to the bedroom and Max looked at Saori and said, "Mind if we have another visitor?"

Saori looked up and sees Marcus coming in the room and she said, "Come on in, Marcus."

Marcus noticed that Saori has holding the new baby and that confirms that she had just given birth to a newborn today and he looks at him and said, "Hello."

"Isn't he great?" asked Max.

"Yeah, he is." Marcus replied.

Soon enough, after seeing the baby, his ears drooped down in sadness and Max could tell that the young black wolf wishes to have a family soon and he looked at Marcus and asked, "You want a family, huh?"

"I do. But I guess that would never happen." Marcus said, sadly.

Then...Max and Saori looked at each other and they knew that Marcus is like part of the family and that he's been at the orphanage a long time and they knew what they were gonna do and Saori said to him, "What would you say...if we take you in as your family?"

Marcus ears started popping up all of a sudden and he was completely surprised that he heard it from them and he asked, "You want to take me in?"

"Of course. You've always been like a son to us and whenever I see you and the kids together, it's like you're part of us." Max added.

Marcus couldn't believe what he was hearing and when that happened, he just hoped that it was all for real and he asked, "You mean it?"

"We mean it." Saori added.

That literally overwhelmed Marcus with so much joy and happiness that he's a part of the family now and he immediately went to Max and hugged him tightly with tears in his face and Max said to him, "You're one of us now and we will do everything we can to make you feel like you're home."

"Thank you guys so much." Marcus said, sniffling.

Saori smiled at this and she reached out to Marcus and she hugged him tightly and Marcus said, "Can I call you guys mom and dad?"

"Absoultely, son." Max said, smiling.

A few minutes later, Max and Saori held Maximus II as they saw the kids in the balcony and he told them, "What would you say about another addition to the family?"

Most of them were a little surprised to assume that they're parents are talking about another baby already and Yuki asked, "Didn't you guys just gave birth this morning?"

"Actually...I was gonna say we have adopted one." Max added.

Soon enough, Marcus came from behind them and he looked at them and said, "I'm one of you guys now."

"Marcus is a part of our family now because he's been like family to us over the years since he's been at the orphanage and now...we're happy to say that he's the new addition to the family." Max replied.

The reaction he received from them were completely awestruck with happiness and delight as Mason, Seto and Kaiba came in for a dog-pile hug while Sapphire, Serenity and Yuki joined in as they greet him a huge welcome to the family and Marcus was embracing all of it.

"This is gonna be so awesome! We're gonna be brothers!" Seto exclaimed, in excitement.

"I know! I'm so happy to be here with you guys right now." Marcus said, happily.

The family were pretty much on cloud nine with not only having adopted a kid, but gave birth to one as well and those two events would definitely be one to remember and that they'll cherish for the rest of their lives and forevermore.

* * *

Although Max and Saori have their new son Maximus II, Marcus is their first adopted son. He'll fit in with the family real well. The last chapter is coming up!


	30. Tag Team

Two months after the events of this story as well as the birth of Maximus II, let's see how Max and Saori handle business.

* * *

Chapter 30: Tag Team

Two months later

It had been an amazing two months for the family as they embraced Maximus II and Saori was still breastfeeding the cub for that period now and as soon as Max came in the room with his paws covering his face, he said, "May I come in?"

Saori giggled in response to that and she stood up and covered herself up after that and she said, "Yes. I just got through breastfeeding little Maximus."

Max chuckled softly and he kissed Saori in the lips and Max held onto the little baby cub for a few minutes and said, "Hey, little Maxie. How are you?"

Saori could definitely see the reason why she named him after her husband because the little one has a few traits from his father; innocence and a heart of gold and she hopes that he'll gather more traits of him when he gets older soon.

Before long, both tigers started doing some diaper duty for the little one as Max takes off the baby's diaper and places them in the trash while Saori comes over with a few baby wipes and wiped the baby's butt and Max comes in with a fresh diaper and baby powder and Saori holds the little baby as Max puts in some powder and used the baby wipes to make the baby's butt smooth and Max puts the new diaper on and before long, they set him down on his crib, where Maximus II fell asleep.

They took one look at the new cub and they know they'll have a lot of challenges ahead of them, but they've faced them before and there's no doubt that they'll tackle them again soon and afterwards, Max asked Saori, "You wanna make another one?"

"Not this time. I think we've pretty much got our hands full with nine kids. That's enough for us...at least for now." Saori said, with a giggle.

Max smiled at that and whenever Saori said, 'at least for now', Max already knew that it's still gonna be a possibility and he said, "I'll wait until then."

* * *

And that's the end! Thank you to Master of Stories for letting me use your characters for this story and there will be a possible chance of another Max/Saori/Akashi story around the bend! Stay tuned! Until then, AniUniverse is out!


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